Mother
by OddGodHMK
Summary: Dib and Gaz's mother's death is never talked about in the series. This visits the past, and how she dies, with tie-ins to my other fic, I'm Coming Mom. R&R!


Mother  
  
~~~~~  
  
Dib sat in his bedroom, alone. He was only 6 years old, and his mother had become ill again. Normally he would be used to something like this; his mother had a weak body and was easily taken as ill. However, this time it seemed worse than he was used to. His mother was usually in the doctor's, but this time she was in hospital, spending all her time in a feather bed. Dib and Gaz were frequently taken for visits with their father, but every time they were sad, knowing she might not be returning home with them. And every time they had hoped, but she never did.  
  
Dib looked at what he held in his hands; his mother's photograph. It was blurry. Dib was lucky, though, he had his mother's memory planted in his mind. But what about his poor sister, Gaz? She was only 4, a small child, and in the future, she'd never be able to remember such things. He'd have to give her it one day.  
  
As Dib sat and pondered, the door creaked open slowly. Gaz was poking her head in through the door, looking at him. Dib turned round to see his little sister.  
  
"Hi sis," he said in a quiet voice. She nodded. Gaz had never wanted to talk in her life, so was a very silent and out-from-it kind of person. She had found it very hard making friends in her new school, so had taken to being with her brother Dib whenever she could.  
  
Gaz ran into the room and climbed up onto Dib's bed. She crawled over next to him and grabbed his hands, to see what he was holding. He didn't seem to realise what she was asking, so she shook his hands and looked at him through large eyes.  
  
"I'm holding... A picture of mommy," Dib said, opening his hands and showing it to Gaz. She stared at it for a few seconds. Dib watched as the tears slowly appeared in Gaz's eyes. He hugged her as she started to cry. "Ssh, ssh. It's alright Gaz. It's her birthday tomorrow, and we can visit her. It'll be alright," Dib said, aware of the fact tears were welling up in his eyes too.  
  
Gaz rubbed her eyes and then suddenly smiled. She scurried off the bed and went to the door, then motioned to Dib to follow. Dib put the picture of his mother on his desk, then ran after Gaz as she led him to her room. She pushed the door open and they went in, Gaz running to her drawers and Dib stepping carefully over the sea of pink stuffed animals.  
  
Gaz opened one of her drawers and searched. Finally, she gave a squeal of delight; she had found it. She rushed over to Dib and shoved something into his hand. He opened it to see a broche with a butterfly on it.  
  
"Mommy's favourite animal..." muttered Dib, smiling. He looked up at Gaz. "Is this your present to Mommy?" Gaz nodded, beaming. She took it away from Dib and put it back into her drawer. She turned to Dib again. "She'll love it," he said, Gaz jumping for joy.  
  
Dib grabbed Gaz's hand and they walked back to his bedroom, where they sat for the rest of the evening, looking at his mother's photograph.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The next day, Dib and Gaz ran up to their father, clutching their gifts.  
  
"Come on children, it's time to visit Mommy!" he said. He picked them up, holding them on his shoulders and walked out of the house, the children in fits of giggles. They eached clutched their mother's present to give to her. That day was turning out very special.  
  
As they reached the hospital, the children gave each other excited looks. The car pulled into the car park and their father unbuckled their seat belts, and let them out of the car. They scampered through the hospital doors, their father following, laughing at their antics.  
  
'If only they knew how serious this is...' he thought to himself, hiding his emotions behind a smile at his children.  
  
Finally, the family reached Room 206; their mother's room. Dib and Gaz looked at the door for a second, then turned to look at their father, for approval. He nodded to them, and they slowly pushed the door open to reveal the beautiful hospital room. Their father had paid a lot of money for the room to be in such an amazing condition.  
  
Dib and Gaz clambered onto their mother's bed and scurried up to near her head. She turned and looked at them slowly, with a smile on her face. She was paler than usual, but she had a smile on her face, as usual. Though she was ill, she could never be seen without a smile on her ever-pretty face.  
  
"Hi kids..." she almost whispered. Her voice was still the same, but she was weak and couldn't talk as well as she could usually.  
  
Dib and Gaz smiled. "Happy birthday Mommy!" cried Dib. Gaz had a huge smile over her face, and she bounced on the bed, squealing happily. "We bought you presents Mommy!" Gaz nodded in agreement and stopped bouncing, crawling back up to Dib's side.  
  
Dib held out some flowers. His mother smiled at him and took them, sniffing them.  
  
"They're lovely..."  
  
Gaz handed her mother something small wrapped in brown paper. Her mother slowly unwrapped it and saw the broche. She was speechless. As she turned to Gaz, she felt tears run down her face.  
  
"Thank you so much, both of you..." Dib and Gaz crawled up to their mother's side and hugged her. As they did, she looked up to see her husband, standing by the side of the bed.  
  
"Hi honey," he said. She smiled at him. "Happy birthday," Membrane handed his wife a rectangular parcel. Curious, Dib and Gaz broke away to stare at it. What could it have been? They watched as their mother slowly unwrapped it to reveal a book.  
  
"I got you the last book in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy... It's signed too," he said. His wife shut her eyes and held the book to her chest.  
  
"The last one I need..." she said quietly, looking back to her husband. He nodded and smiled at her. She shut her eyes again, smiling as her husband talked.  
  
"I knew it was the last one you needed, and I decided to make it special by getting a signed copy... It's worth a lot, so hold tight to it. Who knows, it might be worth a lot one day! I hope you enjoy reading it, because hopefully all the loose ends in the series are tied up... Honey?" Membrane looked at curiously at his wife. She was silent. He rushed to her side and grabbed her hand. "Honey!? Nurse, nurse!"  
  
2 nurses came rushing in, looking at the machines by their patient's side. It was evident by the way Membrane called, however. The nurses pulled Dib and Gaz from the bed and brought out some other machines, working quickly. The rest of the family were ushered out of the room. As they moved out, Membrane called something to his wife.  
  
"I love you!"  
  
The door closed, and Membrane watched in terror as more and more nurses entered the room, crowding around the bed, trying to help the woman. But her husband already knew what had happened.  
  
"What's wrong with Mommy?" asked Dib. His father jumped; in all the time she had been ill, never once had Dib asked why, or what it was. "What's happened to her?"  
  
His father looked down at Dib. He saw his confused eyes and thought best to tell him the truth. "Your mother was very ill... But the doctors didn't know what with... But now she's okay again, because she's..." He choked.  
  
Dib and Gaz's mother died, June 16th 1996. Her illness was never found, but her love was.  
  
The End.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Another one-shot, to fill the gap until ZIM's Earth, Chapter 13, which IS in the making. Please read and rate, thanks! 


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